Isaiah Mobley, Boogie Ellis lead USC to comeback win against Cal
For the third-straight home game, USC used a blistering close to the first half to erase an early deficit. This time it helped result in a 79-72 win against Cal.
Thanks to huge performances by Isaiah Mobley and Boogie Ellis, USC was able to bounce back from a tough Thursday loss to Stanford and right the ship a bit against Cal. Mobley finished with a career-high 24 points to go with rebounds. Ellis had 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting. The 21 points were a season high for Ellis.
Cal held a 27-18 lead with just under 10 minutes remaining until halftime. USC outscored Cal 32-13 the rest of the way and held a 41-35 lead at the half. Mobley and Ellis combined for 14 points during the run.
But slow starts have been a theme for the Trojans this week.
On Monday, Arizona State held a 22-10 lead against USC with 6:19 left in the half. A 16-0 USC run helped the Trojans take a 31-24 lead into the half. On Thursday, USC trailed by nine at the 13:13 mark against Stanford before a 15-0 USC run helped the Trojans to a 34-28 halftime lead. The Trojans were able to take down the Sun Devils but dropped a close one to the Cardinal.
USC never trailed in the second half this time, but came far from putting Cal (9-12, 2-8) away for good.
The Trojans’ defense has slipped as the season has gone along. After holding each of its first 12 opponents to less than 40% shooting from the floor, Cal became the first team to best that mark against USC during the game in Berkeley in early January. Since then, opponents have regularly hit that mark and Cal shot 50% from the floor (and 50% from three-point range) on Saturday.
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But down the stretch, each time Cal cut it to a one-possession game, either Mobley or Ellis was there to respond.
Mobley’s biggest bucket might have come with USC leading 72-69 with just 1:09 left in the game. After backing his defender into the paint, Mobley was able to hit a twisting floater as the shot clock expired. Cal was able to cut the USC lead to three again, but with just 14 seconds remaining. Four free throws from Drew Peterson over the final moments finished off the win for the Trojans.
Stats of Note
After a really sloppy performance with the ball on Thursday, USC committed just four turnovers against Cal.
USC outscored Cal 36-24 in the paint and got shot 28 free throws to just 11 for Cal.
Ethan Anderson scored four points and posted a season-high five assists against zero turnovers.
USC shot just 24% from three-point range as Mobley and Max Agbonkpolo combined to go 2-for-10.
With the win, USC moves to 18-3 overall and 8-3 in Pac-12 play. Up next is an impactful three-game stretch. USC will travel to the desert and take on Arizona State on Thursday and then No. 3 Arizona on Saturday. Though the Wildcats’ ranking will likely be lower by then due to the recent loss to UCLA.
USC then hosts UCLA on Feb. 12 in the first meeting of the year between the two teams.
USC sits alone in third place in the Pac-12
